You would never have seen me eating a steak salad, let alone a steak and papaya salad, as a kid or even in my 20s. I love a juicy steak. Growing up we ate steak with potatoes or rice. Salad was not something always eaten because it was so time consuming to prepare. Sometimes there were steak fajitas on special occasions. But they were not home cooked.
Fast forward to today, and I am older and can’t eat rice and potatoes like I used to. So I try to eat salads at least 4 times a week. The more salads I eat, the more I can enjoy the yummy fried and sweet goodies that you can only find here in Hawaii!
Tri-tip steak is a cheap and tasty cut. So is sirloin steak. If you can get grass-fed, lucky you. Sometimes you can get grass-fed steak on sale when it needs to be sold and cooked that day; it’s just as tasty then! Besides that, grass-fed steak also has tons of vitamins!
Do Meat and Fruit Taste Weird Together?
Not at all! This salad is great because you get the hearty filling steak without being bogged down when you’re done eating. You don’t get that kanak-attack feeling where you wanna take a nap afterwards. I feel like it’s the rice and potatoes that really weigh you down (at least that’s what goes on with my body).
The fruit (along with the salad) is cool and refreshing. It’s a nice contrast to the warm grilled steak. If you get to work at home, this is a nice meal to make on one day (when you need a longer break) and then have leftovers the next few days. Just reheat the meat in the microwave or toaster oven.
Health Benefits: Meat
Despite all the bad rap meat gets, it is still a great source of protein and iron. It’s much easier to get protein from meat than from plants. (No offense to any vegans or vegetarians out there!) Also, it’s important to get your iron to keep your blood healthy.
I was saddened that I wasn’t able to give blood not once, but twice. The reason: because my iron level was low. I was eating tons of meat, but apparently women need more than double the iron that men need. Women need 18 mg of iron a day while men only need 8 mg! That’s equal to 27 ounces of red meat! Since there’s no way that I’m eating 27 ounces of meat in a day, I started looking into other ways to help my body get the iron it needs.
One of those ways is to have Vitamin C when eating foods with iron. Vitamin C helps your body to absorb iron. A great way to get your Vitamin C is from vegetables like red bell peppers, but also from fruits!
Check out this article if you want more info on how much iron you need in a day and how to avoid iron deficiency. Iron-deficiency anemia | Office on Women’s Health (womenshealth.gov)
Health Benefits: Papaya
Papaya has tons of Vitamin C. One whole papaya gives you more than your body needs in a day. If you’re worried about having so much Vitamin C in this salad (papaya and kiwi dressing), it’s okay! Your body will pee out any extra Vitamin C. Your body can’t store it, so you need Vitamin C every single day. Of course, everything in moderation. Don’t eat too much Vitamin C or you can get sick.
I hope you get to try this Steak and Papaya Salad. You’re gonna love the combination of these flavors, especially the Kiwi Ginger Dressing. It’s super easy to make following the recipe at this link. Let me know what you think!
Steak and Papaya Salad with Kiwi Ginger Dressing
Equipment
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 large cutting board
- 1 cast iron grill pan or cast iron pan (preferred, but use an 8" or larger pan if you don't have cast iron)
Ingredients
- 1 pound steak about ¾ inch thick or less
- ½ tsp seasoned salt
- ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 2 heads butter lettuce or bibb lettuce (or 8 cups mixed greens)
- 1 papaya chopped
- 1 avocado chopped
- ¼ red onion sliced
- 1 recipe of Kiwi Ginger Dressing
Instructions
- Preheat cast iron grill pan or cast iron pan on medium high heat. Season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper.
- When the grill or pan is smoking, put the meat on. Cook the meat for 4 minutes on each side for medium rare doneness or 5 minutes on each side for medium doneness. Put on a plate to rest while you wash and cut your other ingredients.
- Slice the steak against the grain. On each plate, put 3 to 4 tablespoons of salad dressing. Then top the dressing with lettuce, papaya, avocado, red onions, and the steak.
